Author's note: The rapid fire rule for machine guns can be found on page 102 of tactical operations and make the four hundred rounds of machine gun ammunition make sooo much more sense. Using those rules, each machine gun uses roughly nine eleven rounds of ammunition on average with each shot.Mudskipper Light Hovertank
IS TW non-box set
20 tons
BV: 297
Cost: 282,100 C-bills
Often overshadowed by the similar J Edgar, the Mudskipper has been manufactured off and on across the periphery since the last days of the Star League. Originally developed by Pinard Protectorates Limited as a light harasser, it was initially rejected for service in favor of the J Edgar, but found new life with Stephan Amaris's secret army, who manufactured tens of thousands of the simple hovertank in shops scattered across the periphery. The name Mudskipper comes from the subsequent Periphery Uprising as an SLDF reporting name for the nimble vehicle (previously designated the H-2C light attack vehicle) which was quickly adopted by rebel vehicle crews.
During the Uprisng, the Mudskipper was used primarily to strike at rear areas to cause chaos (if not significant damage). Standard tactics called for the use of inferno warheads against numerous points across a targeted area, with the intention of sowing confusion and overtaxing emergency response before moving in on a key target and engaging with heavy machine gun fire. The vehicle's quad battery of machine guns, a knockoff of the classic Sperry Browning design, were uniquely suited to this kind of fast, chaotic warfare, as designers had intentionally omitted the burst limiter from their design. This allowed the weapons to achieve a terrifying rate of fire and notably increased the amount of damage they could do to their target, but it also chewed through ammunition at a tremendous rate and caused horrific wear on the barrel and munition feed of the guns. For the rebels, this was considered something of a left handed advantage, as the tendency of their guns towards catastrophic failure kept them from lingering at a target for too long and risking capture.
Though most of the tens of thousands of Mudskippers produced for the uprising were either destroyed, captured, or abandoned, the basic nature and limited technical sophistication of the design kept it in service and production among the periphery powers. Even the Taurian Concordat, which retained significant manufacturing capacity and had once rejected the design, saw fit to produce several runs during the succession wars to supplement their frontier garrisons. For the most part these are largely unchanged, though many use different models of machine guns that retain burst limiters, much to the gratitude of the maintenance staff and quartermaster corps responsible for their care and supply.
Variants:
The only variant from the Periphery Uprising era saw the use of a long range missile pack in place of the short range launchers. Often these vehicles would be loaded with smoke or incendiary munitions, though they proved to be of little utility. Thunder munitions, on the other hand, were highly prized, but hard to come by, with most of the Rebel supply coming from captured SLDF munitions.
The next variant appears to date to the late Third Succession War, with vehicles serving the Oberon Confederation using paired flame projectors rather than the missile tubes. Though it was believed that these were initially refits of vehicles acquired on the open market, the Oberon Confederation was apparently putting the finishing touches on a factory to produce the Mudskipper when Clan Wolf took Oberon VI in 3049.
The final variant is commonly assumed to be a product of the Marian Hegemony, given its use of simple rocket launchers, though the vehicle's exact origin hasn't been determined. Though seen among the Marian Legions, the Rocket Launcher variant of the Mudskipper appears to be just as common among pirate bands across the periphery.
Design Quirks: Ubiquitous, Poor Workmanship, Exposed Weapon Linkage (Machine guns). If the unit operates with its machine guns in rapid fire mode (tactical operations page 102), add the quirks ammunition feed problem (machine guns), and inaccurate weapon (machine guns)
Movement: 8/12 (Hover)
Engine: 75 ICE
Internal: 10
Armor: 56
Internal Armor
--------------------------------------
Front 2 16
Right 2 10
Left 2 10
Rear 2 10
Turret 2 10
Weapon Loc Heat
----------------------------------------
Machine Gun TU 0
Machine Gun TU 0
Machine Gun TU 0
Machine Gun TU 0
SRM 2 TU 2
SRM 2 TU 2
Ammo Loc Shots
----------------------------------------
Machine Gun Ammo BD 200
Machine Gun Ammo BD 200
SRM 2 Ammo BD 50
Mudskipper Light Hovertank (LRM)
IS TW non-box set
20 tons
BV: 309
Cost: 300,300 C-bills
Movement: 8/12 (Hover)
Engine: 75 ICE
Internal: 10
Armor: 56
Internal Armor
--------------------------------------
Front 2 16
Right 2 10
Left 2 10
Rear 2 10
Turret 2 10
Weapon Loc Heat
----------------------------------------
Machine Gun TU 0
Machine Gun TU 0
Machine Gun TU 0
Machine Gun TU 0
LRM 5 TU 2
Ammo Loc Shots
----------------------------------------
Machine Gun Ammo BD 200
Machine Gun Ammo BD 200
LRM 5 Ammo BD 24
Mudskipper Light Hovertank (Rocket)
IS TW non-box set
20 tons
BV: 343
Cost: 356,300 C-bills
Movement: 8/12 (Hover)
Engine: 75 ICE
Internal: 10
Armor: 56
Internal Armor
--------------------------------------
Front 2 16
Right 2 10
Left 2 10
Rear 2 10
Turret 2 10
Weapon Loc Heat
----------------------------------------
Machine Gun TU 0
Machine Gun TU 0
Machine Gun TU 0
Machine Gun TU 0
Rocket Launcher 15 TU 4
Rocket Launcher 15 TU 4
Rocket Launcher 15 TU 4
Ammo Loc Shots
----------------------------------------
Machine Gun Ammo BD 200
Machine Gun Ammo BD 200
Mudskipper Light Hovertank (Flamer)
IS TW non-box set
20 tons
BV: 235
Cost: 240,100 C-bills
Movement: 8/12 (Hover)
Engine: 75 ICE
Internal: 10
Armor: 56
Internal Armor
--------------------------------------
Front 2 16
Right 2 10
Left 2 10
Rear 2 10
Turret 2 10
Weapon Loc Heat
----------------------------------------
Machine Gun TU 0
Machine Gun TU 0
Machine Gun TU 0
Machine Gun TU 0
Vehicle Flamer TU 3
Vehicle Flamer TU 3
Ammo Loc Shots
----------------------------------------
Machine Gun Ammo BD 200
Machine Gun Ammo BD 200
Vehicle Flamer Ammo BD 20
Vehicle Flamer Ammo BD 20
